


amet ei riku meest, kui mees ametit ei riku

by definition_of_desperation



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Shops, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, comments influence the story ;), give me suggestions in the comments and it may happen!, i know it looks like it's lucy-centric but its not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21537352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definition_of_desperation/pseuds/definition_of_desperation
Summary: Lucy runs away from home and needs a job. A local coffee shop is hiring; how convenient! She meets her co-workers, a guy who doesn't wear a shirt under his apron, another guy who wears a scarf at all times and won't stop breaking the cups, and a beautiful lady who's as awkward as can be.Oh, and the one guy who always starts his shift as soon as Erza is gone and always wears a mask. He's kind of scary, actually.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	amet ei riku meest, kui mees ametit ei riku

Lucy supposed she was lucky. She found a job within a week, the pay was surprisingly big for the nature of it, and she didn't have the awkwardness of starting in the middle of the day and using precious time trying to figure out how all the machines worked.

Her first shift was in the morning and she was there bright and early, half an hour before opening. She wasn't alone, thankfully. A boy with bright pink hair arrived soon after she did. He looked sleepy and disinterested, but when she started a conversation, he happily instructed her on what to do.

And then everything got out of hand fast. As soon as the first order came, he started making rude comments about their preferences. The client seemed to be a regular, though, as they only laughed softly and waited for him to make the coffee.

Lucy, however, wasn't having it - it wouldn't do to have the reputation of this place go down just because of Natsu's issues with almond milk!

"Natsu, would it kill you to be more polite? This person is our _client_. We need to treat them with respect!"

Natsu didn't even look at her, focusing on the coffee. "Yeah, whatever, new girl."

"Excuse me? The name's Lucy, by the way," Lucy huffed, crossing her arms. "And no wonder the reviews were so bad. Is everyone here so rude?"

"Yeah, especially Gray. His shift starts in three hours, so be prepared. I hate his guts. Don't even talk to him, he'll probably just say that you're ugly," Natsu grinned to himself, not caring how bad it might seem to be gossiping while giving the client their coffee.

"Is he really that bad?"

"The worst!"

Lucy chewed on her lip, frowning in worry. This place might not be the best for her, after all... But the pay was so good, it would be a crime to leave! Quickly, she decided that if it didn't get better soon, she would leave. Hopefully, Natsu was the worst of it.

Later on, though, she realized how reliable he really was. The morning was slow, but at around noon, it was so fast that Lucy couldn't keep up.

"Excuse me, miss!" called a boy with dirty blond hair. "I asked for milk with my coffee. Can you please add some?"

Lucy panicked briefly, stuck taking an order, but focused on her current task as Natsu handled just about a thousand things at once and corrected the guy's order with surprising speed. He must have a lot of experience already.

Lucy made a mental note to thank him later, and to buy him lunch or something. He was a lot more serious with these guests - he must have known the first client personally. She made another mental note to apologize for assuming that he was always so awful. Still, he could have cleared it up a little.

Either way, she was enjoying this first day. It was a bit too fast for her, but she knew she'd get used to it soon enough. The clients weren't as awful as she'd thought, but then again, Natsu handled the worst of them, so she couldn't be sure yet just how bad they could be. She would have to decide again after a few more weeks.

She felt hopeless when Natsu's shift ended, though. Gray had arrived an hour ago, mostly to help with the rush at noon, but it had ended soon after, which meant that they didn't need three baristas anymore. So, now she could actually take a look at Gray for once.

He was very handsome, honestly. He wasn't too tall, but he wasn't short, either. He looked like someone who would never flirt with someone out of the blue, but would flirt back if someone else started flirting with him first. That didn't mean he was a jerk. He actually looked like a nice, calm person. A good friend.

Unfortunately, that beautiful first impression was ruined by the fact that he was wearing cargo shorts under his apron, but no shirt. It felt awkward to bring it up _now_ , but it had to be done.

"Uh... Hi. You're Gray, right?" Lucy started, trying not to stare too obviously. He had nice arms, she had to admit.

"Yeah. What's your name?" Gray hummed, leaning on the counter casually.

"It's Lucy. And... You do realize you have no shirt, right?"

Gray looked down. "Huh. I guess I forgot it."

Nevermind, he might actually be a jerk, after all.

"Then go put one on!"

Gray sighed, then shrugged and went to the back. Lucy cleaned the counter of any liquid spills while he got changed. When he returned, he didn't actually look that bad. He knew how to match cargo shorts, a T-shirt and an ugly apron, somehow.

"Thank you," Lucy said pointedly, smiling. "That's much better. You know, Natsu told me you're really mean, but you don't seem that bad."

"Don't believe a word of what that sulfur-breath tells you. He's an idiot. I don't get how he's still alive, considering all the dumb shit he's done," Gray huffed a laugh. "He got hit by a car once because he forgot to check if any were coming."

Okay, there were a lot of issues between those two, it seemed. She would definitely have to fix that.

Why did she have to start her new job off with people like these two? Hopefully, next time would be a bit more fun. And she'd actually see her boss for once...

She dried the countertop with a paper towel, not having much else to do than clean, when a new client finally came in. She smiled brightly, greeting the man cheerfully and threw the paper away as quickly as she could manage.

The man took one look at her, and walked over to Gray instead. "Who's this clown?"

Lucy still smiled, even as she wanted nothing else but to kick him in the face.

"Hey, Laxus," Gray sighed, already getting to work without taking his order. "She's Lucy. It's her first day."

"Gramps is hiring strippers now?"

"Gramps is hiring anyone willing to work with Natsu for more than two minutes. People like that aren't easy to find," Gray snorted, adding an inhumane amount of caramel syrup into Laxus' coffee.

"I'm not a stripper, you know," Lucy said, trying not to sound _too_ angry. Laxus looked like he could snap _Gray_ in half in the blink of an eye. He could do much worse to _her_.

"Don't care. I'm not going to remember your name anyway, so get used to that. You'll be gone in a few days, anyway," Laxus said, grabbed his drink, and left without paying.

Lucy looked at Gray, confused. Did they just get robbed, or...?

"That's Laxus. He's the boss' grandson. He volunteers here a lot, so he gets free stuff sometimes," Gray shrugged. "He's an angry jerk, but he cares, I guess."

"Well, he's seriously underestimating me."

"No, _you're_ underestimating this place. When you meet Erza... You don't want to meet Erza. When's your next shift?"

"Uh... Tomorrow, starting at eleven."

"Good luck. I mean it. She always takes the morning shift on Tuesdays. She's a monster, you'll be so overworked that you'll get flashbacks for the rest of your life. She'll end her shift at half past twelve, and then _Mystogan_ will come. Just consider yourself to be all alone when Mystogan is supposed to be there."

"What? Are they really that bad?"

"Worse. But don't tell Erza I said this! I still want to live!" Gray shivered, and Lucy shivered in pity. "Wh-... What about Mystogan?"

"He'll always arrive late. He has something against Erza. He doesn't want to see her, and I don't blame him. He won't say a single thing except the price of the order and who the order is for. Not to mention that he constantly disappears, and you'll find him handing out sleeping pills to sketchy people behind the shop. No matter how quiet you are, he knows you saw and he'll look at you with the scariest look you'll ever see. I'm pretty sure he's an actual drug dealer."

"What the hell is this coffee shop?!" Lucy shivered, holding herself tightly. The boss had looked so nice and considerate when she first met him, so how come he's hired people like this?!

"Good luck. The only normal one here is Gramps. And even he is weird when you're unused to everyone else."

"I don't think I want to meet anyone else..."

* * *

True enough, when Lucy arrived the next day, Erza was already hard at work. She didn't look like a monster like she'd thought. Instead, she was incredibly beautiful. Gray must have been trying to prank her. She believed that until Natsu ran out, shouting something at her as she stepped behind the counter. Something that sounded too much like 'good luck, you're on your own'.

It was already a little busy, but not as bad as it was yesterday, which must also be the reason why it was only the two of them. So, Lucy sparked up a conversation. "Hi! You're Erza, right? The others told me a little about you. My name is Lucy!"

"There's a time and a place for small talk. Less procrastination, more work, _Lucy_ ," Erza warned, not bothering to look at her.

The unsaid threat was enough to send Lucy into overdrive, and an hour passed without much chatter. It was calming down, now, and even Erza looked bored, now. She was mopping the floor, where a customer had spilled their drink earlier. Lucy wiped down the counter, almost lazily.

It was so boring... "So, Erza... What do you like to do in your free time?"

"Keep working. If you have time to talk, you have time to clean. No client should see disorder," Erza demanded, but it still wasn't as scary as Lucy had imagined. She was just passionate about work, really. She smiled and nodded, taking extra care to get the countertop nice and shiny.

It was a slow day, but she managed to sneak on her phone while Erza wasn't looking. She finally remembered to look up Mystogan, after all. There wasn't really anything written about him other than some speculation and conspiracy theories - sure, he was definitely an alien. There was no doubt about it. She sighed, re-organizing the syrups for the third time already.

Finally, Erza thanked her for working so well with her, shook her hand, and left without a proper goodbye. Still, Lucy liked her. She worked hard, wanted others to work hard as well, and respected the clients and the business, too. She must be a lot more carefree when she wasn't working, right?

Either way, she was alone for now. Just as Gray had mentioned, Mystogan arrived about fifteen minutes late - not that it mattered, since there had only been three customers in that time. What did bother her, however, was the ridiculous mask he was wearing. He reminded Lucy of the nine-year-olds she sometimes saw on the streets, who wore their scarves over their faces to look cool and mysterious. Not to mention the obvious wig...

Still, she knew better than to judge people on first impressions, and walked up to him. "Hi! My name is Lucy!"

He looked at her for a moment, and in the quietest voice she'd ever heard, he said, "Mystogan."

"Gray told me a little bit about you. I can't wait to work with you!"

"Ditto."

"If you don't mind telling me, why do you hide your face?" Lucy asked, hopeful.

Instead of answering, Mystogan walked around her, and took a customer's order, silent. Lucy wasn't sure how he got this job if he didn't even talk to the clients, but it probably wasn't a good idea to question it.

He wasn't too rude, even if he was silent. He made sure she knew he was listening, even if it was just a brief glance in her direction. She wasn't sure if he liked that she was talking the entire time, but he didn't look angry, so she kept talking. Not about herself, she wasn't close enough to anyone here yet, but simple topics like animals and hobbies and collections were fine. Besides, it gave her a nice chance to talk about her collection of keys made by the famous Seirei company. He actually seemed interested in that, constantly looking over at her. Once his hands were free, he dug out his phone, scrolled around his picture gallery, and showed her a picture of some silver keys. Quite common, but he looked proud of himself.

"Three Nikora keys, huh? They're really cute! Deneb and Polaris, too! Lyra is pretty rare, too, actually. You've got a lot of good ones. Not trying to brag, but I have some golden keys! Aquarius, Taurus and Cancer," Lucy bragged, despite her claims.

Mystogan put his phone back in his pocket just as another customer entered. Lucy was just glad she had managed to bond with him so fast. Did the others even know that he liked collecting keys? Probably not!

He looked very kind, and got excited easily, so she liked working with him most of all so far. Until there was a sudden rush of people and Mystogan had disappeared. Gray had warned her, and she still let it happen...!

She panicked, taking orders as quickly as she could. She put her multitasking skills to the test, messing up only once by adding too much chocolate syrup into a drink, but she was still angry at Mystogan for leaving. Once she was sure she could take a quick break, she went to try and find Mystogan. She checked all the back rooms first. Eventually, though, she did go outside. Lo and behold, he was there, sitting on some bricks that served no purpose.

"Mystogan? What are you doing out here? You should be working right now. Please, come help out a little," Lucy pouted, crossing her arms. Predictably, there was no answer, but there was some shuffling. He stood, adjusting the mask around his nose and mouth. He walked back inside, looking rather upset.

"Thank you. You don't have to give me any reasons. Just try to let me know if you want to leave, okay? I had to deal with a rush all by myself," Lucy smiled softly, carefully closing the door after him.

That was the last eventful thing that happened before the end of her shift.

* * *

Lucy's next shift was on Saturday. She had looked who she'd be working with that day. With only three hours that day, she would only be working in the afternoon with Gray. She started just as Natsu and Cana - she hadn't met her just yet - finished. The schedule was weird, but she didn't really mind, since it was easily accessible.

Quickly, she realized this was about to be the weirdest shift she'd ever had. Almost as soon as she had arrived, Laxus walked in. Since Gray was busy with an elderly lady, Lucy had to get him his coffee - and he was /very/ specific. She almost wanted to smack him for how much sugar he wanted in it. Once the agony of making Laxus' order was done, she just about fainted right then and there as probably the most famous twins in the area walked in.

She could remember seeing them in magazines - their father, Faust, was the owner of a large company - and though she wouldn't admit it, she'd had a bit of a crush on them. Jellal, especially. Though identical, their personalities were as different as could be.

The older was Jellal, who was charming, funny, and very social. He gave tons of interviews and gladly took pictures with people. The fact that he was a model didn't hurt his reputation.

The younger twin was Siegrain. He was more withdrawn, barely ever seen. And when he _was_ seen, it was with Jellal. He seemed to lack the ability to take initiative. No one really knew much about him, but he was supposedly a good friend.

And Lucy was freaking out because he could see them for the first time. She absolutely _could not mess this up_ _!_ Her future depended on this! Probably not, but it sure felt like it.

While Jellal ordered from Gray, Siegrain walked up to Lucy. He had a gentle voice and it honestly almost startled her. "I'll have a Guillermo, please."

Lucy blinked in surprise. It wasn't on the menu... "Uh, sorry, I'm not quite sure what that is..."

Siegrain laughed gently. It was such a soft laugh. "It's pretty much just an espresso poured over lime. You're new, right?"

"Uh, yeah, how'd you know?"

God, Lucy, don't just talk to him, make the damn coffee!

"Jellal's constantly asking me to come here with him. He has a crush on one of the other employees. Seems like she's not here, though."

Lucy, with shaky hands, finally got to work. "Uh, yeah, it's just me and Gray right now. Who were you expecting to see?"

"Why, the famous Titania, of course," Siegrain laughed. He knew Jellal would be upset later, but it never lasted long. "She's very beautiful, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she really is," Lucy smiled softly, relaxing. He wasn't at all like she'd expected. "And very hard-working."

"Indeed. Thank you very much, miss," Siegrain smiled widely as she gave him his coffee. Did they really talk that long? Jellal was waiting at a table already, _very_ subtly glaring at Siegrain. Lucy couldn't help but giggle at them. They were a lot cuter in real life. What dorks!

**Author's Note:**

> comments keep this fic alive  
> i probably wont update if i dont get enough


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